


Apes

by yeaka



Category: Hot Fuzz (2007)
Genre: M/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-10-30
Packaged: 2021-01-15 01:18:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21245147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Nicholas gives the monkey back.





	Apes

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Hot Fuzz or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

His hand smashes against the wood. The knocking sound echoes loudly throughout the suspiciously quiet yard. The door jerks open, and Danny’s standing there on the other side—Nicholas swallows a breath and straightens to full attention like he’s on the battlefield addressing his senior officer. 

He thrusts the monkey forward. Danny’s eyes snap down to it. Nicholas gruffly explains, “Right. I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes. I feel like the monkey’s been staring at me.”

“It’s not real, Nick.”

“I know that, Danny.”

“So it can’t stare at you, you see.”

Nicholas blinks. He drops the subject and moves right on to the clincher: “So I figured I should give it back.”

That and he’s too old to have a stuffed animal. So is Danny, but Danny’s... special.

And the monkey still smells like Danny from being crushed against his big, sweaty body and soaking up his cheap cologne. Nicholas doesn’t need anything that smells like Danny sitting around his house, because he’s a grown man that of course is going to have urges sometimes when it’s the middle of the night and he can smell another human being, even if that human being smells more like a big smelly man than Janine and maybe Nicholas prefers that. 

It’s complicated. He tells Danny, “Take the monkey back.”

Danny retorts, “But I gave it to you.” He even actually looks a bit put out, like Nicholas is rejecting him, so Nicholas has to recap the events and set the record straight.

“I gave him to you first.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“I won him for you.”

“Nah,” Danny scoffs, waving his hand dismissively and grinning. Maybe memories of that irritating but mildly acceptable day are exploding into his head like they are into Nicholas’. “You were just showin’ off.”

“No, I didn’t want to play at all, but I did because of you, and then I won you this monkey.” He stabs it further forward. Danny finally looks down at it instead of running his eyes all over Nicholas. 

His grin grows. He collects the stuffed animal with a small, “Alright.” He crushes it up against his beefy chest in a way that definitely doesn’t make Nicholas at all jealous, because Nicholas is a grown man that doesn’t desperately crave the warm embrace of certain individuals who may or may not be his best friend. Danny’s whole face glows when he smiles. He drawls, “That was really awesome, by the way. So cool. You’re so cool.”

Nicholas isn’t blushing. And if he is, it’s only because there’s a slight breeze and the wind chill has affected the blood vessels in his cheeks. He stares at Danny’s dazzling smile for a few more seconds, then barks, “Welp. I’ll be going, then.”

Danny asks, “Pub?”

Nicholas hesitates. But he knows he shouldn’t go because he’s not-blushing and this absolutely wasn’t a vulnerable moment for him, and even though he’s gotten a lot looser and fits much better into the village than he once did, he doesn’t need to bring any mushy definitely-not-vulnerable moments into public. That would just be inappropriate.

Danny offers, “Come in for a drink?”

“Yep. Alright.” 

Danny steps aside with a welcoming arm outstretched, and Nicholas goes in to get hammered.


End file.
